KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Consistent policies and common mechanisms across Asean can help create a more connected market, making the bloc more attractive to capital and providing a base of stability for the region’s future progress.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said that adopting common policies, such as standardised emissions measurement, consistent intervention tools, and aligned taxonomy in areas like climate change, would make Asean markets more fluid and interconnected, allowing the region to be seen as a single market rather than a collection of separate countries.
“So those (common policies) attract capital, and they provide the base of stability for Asean to progress going forward,” he said at the “High-level roundtable: Policy Challenges for Asia Going Forward” event held in conjunction with the Asia in 2050 Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.
Amir Hamzah said Asean comprises diverse countries with a population of 700 million, offering significant growth potential.
By identifying common ground and focusing on non-controversial areas, he said the bloc can strengthen inter-regional cooperation.
He cited the Asean Power Grid as an example of a non-controversial initiative, describing it as fundamentally a win-win for all member countries.
Amir Hamzah also pointed to Malaysia-Singapore cooperation on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), highlighting that the two countries can combine their efforts to be more effective than they would be individually.
“And from the inter-country cooperation, we grow the inter-Asean cooperation, then we get even better and stronger together,” he added. — Bernama
